artist list

Arts Premiers mixed media and acrylic on wood 12 x 5

Artist Biography:

Paul Mardikian was born in France in 1963 and spent most of his childhood in Boulogne-sur-seine near Paris. He became fascinated with abstraction at an early age by looking at the world around him. As a young boy, he recalls the asphalt sidewalk on his way to school reminding him of being high in the sky looking down at an imaginary landscape.

At the age of 25, while studying archaeology and conservation science at the School of the Louvre and the Sorbonne University, Mardikian developed specific tools and materials to convey his feelings through abstract painting. His training in art restoration offered him a deep understanding of the chemical, physical, and optical properties of paints. Mardikian is the head conservator for the Hunley Project, a program of Clemson University..

Paul Mardikian

Charleston

Paul Mardikian's work is represented at: Corrigan Gallery

About the Work:

“Each work resembles a palimpsest with its unique layered history. Binders and pigments are added and subtracted to recompose the visible skin of the painting. The wood surface or the canvas is the base on which materials interact with each other guided by the hand of the artist. Certain paintings on canvas are reminiscent of early cave drawings, earthenware ceramics or other textured supports.

Each piece represents a specific challenge: the outcome is never predictable. The mystery of the creation is total. I feel like being simultaneously creator and spectator of my own work. It may take a year to give a soul to a piece of wood or stretched piece of linen: scarping off, adding layers, exploring, and eventually, if the composition starts taking on a life of its own, leaving it alone.

I never stopped exploring and probing my artistic intentions and necessities while digging up the past for the last twenty years. I now sense the readiness to speak about and show my artwork. This is the intent of the present statement.”